Spicy Black Bean Veggie Burgers

I’m pretty sure I’m driving everyone in my life crazy right now. I’ve been on a meatless, vegetarian diet-kick for several weeks. I have my reasons, and I really don’t know where this new lifestyle will lead me. I’m not even sure if it is a lifestyle yet. Maybe it’s just a phase.

Either way, I’m from Kansas. I can FEEL people rolling their eyes at me when I turn down meat dishes. But that’s okay. Because I get to eat things like this spicy black bean burger and it makes me perfectly happy. Giddy, in fact.

Seriously…giddy.

I’m that girl.

I’m also the girl who got mad at her husband last night because she went into the pantry to gather ingredients to make this spicy black bean yumminess and discovered there were no more black beans. Guess who ate them? He did. Guess who didn’t tell me he ate all the black beans when he knows full well that I’m obsessed with spicy black bean burgers right now? He didn’t.

That’s why I got mad at him.

He loves me. Really.

So, these burgers are way easy. They take just a few minutes to throw together, form into patties and saute in a non-stick skillet. You can add or omit ingredients as you see fit – sometimes I replace some of the breadcrumbs with flax seed, sometimes I add green chilies or roasted red peppers. Sometimes I like them extra spicy and throw and extra jalapeno in there. You want to keep the mixture relatively dry so it forms nice patties, so keep that in mind when you go experimenting.

The spicy horseradish mayo is the perfect topping, and is best SLATHERED all over your buttered, toasted buns. You could even replace the mayo with Greek yogurt if you’re trying to be extra healthy. Whole wheat, organic buns are just hearty enough to stand up to all of this goodness, and of course, what’s a burger without melty cheddar cheese?